House of Commons Transport Committee Access to transport for disabled people Fifth Report of Session 2013–14 Volume I Volume I: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Additional written evidence is contained in Volume II, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/transcom Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 9 September 2013 HC 116 [Incorporating HC 1002, Session 2012-13] Published on 17 September 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £22.00 The Transport Committee The Transport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Transport and its Associate Public Bodies. Current membership Mrs Louise Ellman (Labour/Co-operative, Liverpool Riverside) (Chair) Sarah Champion (Labour, Rotherham) Jim Dobbin (Labour/Co-operative, Heywood and Middleton) Karen Lumley (Conservative, Redditch) Jason McCartney (Conservative, Colne Valley) Karl McCartney (Conservative, Lincoln) Lucy Powell (Labour/Co-operative, Manchester Central) Mr Adrian Sanders (Liberal Democrat, Torbay) Iain Stewart (Conservative, Milton Keynes South) Graham Stringer (Labour, Blackley and Broughton) Martin Vickers (Conservative, Cleethorpes) The following were also members of the committee during the Parliament. Steve Baker (Conservative, Wycombe), Angie Bray (Conservative, Ealing Central and Acton), Lilian Greenwood (Labour, Nottingham South), Mr Tom Harris (Labour, Glasgow South), Julie Hilling (Labour, Bolton West), Kelvin Hopkins (Labour, Luton North), Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative, Spelthorne), Mr John Leech (Liberal Democrat, Manchester Withington) Paul Maynard, (Conservative, Blackpool North and Cleveleys), Gavin Shuker (Labour/Co-operative, Luton South), Angela Smith (Labour, Penistone and Stocksbridge), Julian Sturdy (Conservative, York Outer) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at http://www.parliament.uk/transcom. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in a printed volume. Additional written evidence may be published on the internet only. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Mark Egan (Clerk), Farrah Bhatti (Second Clerk), Richard Jeremy (Committee Specialist), Adrian Hitchins (Senior Committee Assistant), Stewart McIlvenna (Committee Assistant) and Hannah Pearce (Media Officer) Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Transport Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6263; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 Current approach to accessibility 7 Summary of measures to date 7 Buses 7 Railways 7 Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) 8 Aviation 8 Shipping 8 Personal transport 8 Further potential measures 9 Monitoring the Action Plan 9 3 Accessible transport infrastructure 10 Pavements 10 Buses and community transport infrastructure 10 Railways 14 Cross-modal interchange 16 Taxis and private hire vehicles 16 4 Better transport information 17 Transport Direct 17 The requirement for advance booking 18 Travel training 19 5 Staff training and awareness 20 Public transport staff 20 Taxi and private hire vehicle drivers 22 Airports and airlines 22 6 The future of the Disabled Persons’ Transport Advisory Committee 24 7 Concluding remarks 25 Conclusions and recommendations 26 Formal Minutes 31 Witnesses 32 List of printed written evidence 33 2 List of additional written evidence 33 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament 36 3 Summary Enabling and encouraging access to transport for disabled people delivers widespread benefits across government, through widening employment opportunities; through access to healthcare and education; and by enabling disabled people to participate more in society. Last year the London Paralympic Games brought a focus on what measures the UK could take to make transport as accessible for disabled people as it is for the rest of the population. These improvements for the Games built a considerable expectation that there would be a significant Paralympic legacy of improved access to transport for disabled people in the UK. Subsequent to the Games, the Department for Transport published its Accessibility Action Plan. This set out measures to improve the physical accessibility of transport for disabled people; to provide better information for the disabled traveller; and to improve attitudes and behaviour towards disabled passengers. Many of its proposed measures are praiseworthy, but we are worried about how closely the implementation of this Plan is being monitored. The Government should publish annual updates about implementation of the plan, including data on changes in the number and types of journeys made by disabled people. The full UK bus and coach fleet is not required to be compliant with accessibility regulations until 2020. Many bus routes now advertised as being operated with accessible buses sometimes run step access only buses. This lack of reliability from the network means that many disabled people do not consider making a journey. A lack of on-board audio-visual information on buses also reduces the willingness of the visually impaired as well as the wider public to use buses. We would like to see a system of incentives for operators to bring forward investment in new accessible vehicles, together with a phasing in of audio-visual information as new buses are introduced over the next ten years. We disagree with the DfT’s decision to exercise an exemption to the EU requirement for operators to provide disability awareness training to staff in the bus and coach industry, especially given how readily modern methods such as “e-learning” make it possible for such training can be provided for all staff at minimal cost. We would like to see this exemption ended. The requirement for rail staff to have disability awareness training stands in strong contrast to the minimal requirements imposed on the bus industry. The rail network is also seeing improvements to station accessibility improvements through the Access for All scheme and we hope to see the DfT involving disability organisations and charities in prioritising stations for improvements. As the requirement for staff training acknowledges, physical improvements to enable greater accessibility improvements do not detract from the importance of staffed stations to ensure a safe and secure journey for disabled people. Any forthcoming changes in ticket offices and technology should not reduce the level of staff on train stations. Disabled people are required by law to travel with a carer on flights if the airline judges them unable to perform an emergency procedure on the aeroplane by themselves. The DfT 4 Transport Committee should seek to amend the EU regulations to allow carers to travel free of charge if an airline deems it necessary, as is the case in the USA. The DfT should also press the European Commission to bring forward proposals on adequate compensation by airlines for damaged mobility equipment. Currently, the liability of airlines for damaged baggage is limited to approximately £1,180, which is significantly less than some mobility equipment. Our evidence indicated that there is very low awareness of Transport Direct, the DfT’s journey planning web portal, that was upgraded substantially following the Paralympic Games and now includes an option to specify journeys that are accessible to disabled people so that such travellers can have greater confidence when deciding how or whether to travel. The DfT should improve its marketing of the portal among disabled people to enable the DfT’s investment in the portal to reap its full benefit. Travel training schemes are also supported in the Accessibility Action Plan, but there is no firm commitment to support the initial capital outlay to set schemes up. The DfT should encourage local authorities to include such schemes in bids for funding in the next round of the Local Sustainable Travel Fund. The DfT should likewise be working with other departments to improve policy on accessibility for disabled people, and with local government and the new Disability Action Alliance to promote the development of successful local schemes. Local government and the strategic transport authorities have the closest involvement with transport operators and passengers, and it is here that successful transport initiatives and schemes are often devised. 5 1 Introduction 1. Most people will experience disability at some point in their lifetime, either personally or in caring for disabled family and friends.1 Approximately 11.5 million people (19% of the population) are currently disabled in the UK, as defined by the Equality Act 2010.2 Over one in five of those reporting a disability experience difficulties when using transport.3 This can have a huge impact on the individual, making it difficult or impossible